Twelve of us set off for an adventure full of ceremony, quiet contemplation and awesome experience in and around majestic Mt. Shasta in northern California. According to Peter Dawkins and Norma Tarango, Mt. Shasta is the Jupiter Gate in the Tree of Life Grail Cup imprinted over the whole of North America. The western sephiroth are aligned with Venus in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Neptune in the oceans around Vancouver Island as well as the centre in Mt. Shasta. Zia and I had already done ceremony in the Landscape Zodiac of New Mexico and the Landscape Zodiac of Victoria on Vancouver Island has been well established with ceremonies over the last few years. This was an opportunity to link these three important sites together as a Trinity which is interesting as the wilderness around Mt. Shasta is actually called Shasta Trinity.

We opened space for the week traveling on the Coho ferry between Victoria and Port Angeles, Washington, setting our intentions, inviting in those beings from beyond the veil who wished to assist us, and the hummingbird to help us navigate our way through the different experiences with joy, wonder, harmony and love in our hearts.

We entered the force field of Shasta stopping in Ashland, Oregon, where they host an International Shakespeare Festival every summer. A lovely little town where a number of well-known spiritual leaders live, including Jean Huston, Neale Donald Walsch and James Twyman. You can sense the shift of energy here and the beginning of the pilgrimage.

We are staying in Stewart Mineral Springs, just north of Shasta on its lower slopes, where there is a wonderful emergence of the Red and White Springs from within Mother Earth. The sanctuary offers the opportunity to bathe in the rich silicate hot waters of the white spring, rest in a Cedar lined wood-fired Sauna and then plunge into the cold creek waters of the combined red and white springs. This process is repeated three times and leaves one feeling clear and invigorated. It is an initiation and cleansing before we begin our journey up the mountain. It is recommended that the process be repeated in three separate sessions which we managed to do during the course of the week. 

This land is sacred and we have our first ceremony under the pagoda at the site where the springs come out of the ground alongside each other. The other place where this phenomenon occurs is at the Chalice Well in Glastonbury, providing an important link with the two sets of springs and sacred landscapes. We do a beautiful ceremony offering our prayers, blessings and two crystals, rose quartz for the red spring and clear quartz for the white spring. These springs are consciously aware of their being and simply require acknowledgement of their significance. A sign appears during our ceremony as the red spring begins to bubble up in sheer joy!

Mt. Shasta is a powerful force field of the Violet Flame closely associated with St. Germain and the Mountain has this violet radiance about it. We drive up to the highest point to survey the scene and connect with the Mountain before heading off into Panther Meadows for our next ceremony. There was very little snow last winter and the mountain is dry with only trickles of water coming out of Panther Springs. We set up just above the springs where Zia and I had done ceremony on Michaelmas Day last September. A beautiful spot. One of the wonderful features of this week was the involvement of five crystal bowls to assist us in our ceremonies. We again offered blessings with flowers, crystals, toned and played the crystal bowls to tune into the crystalline energies of the mountain. It felt really good and the Mountain itself seemed to change and become actively engaged.

The next day we visited the Headwaters of the Sacramento River where the waters come pouring through lava tubules off the mountain and quickly become the flowing river. Here our ceremony involved a cascading Om each person beginning at a different time creating a lovely sound. The locals collecting their water were very happy.

The afternoon was spent back on the mountain hiking to South Gate Meadow, my favourite spot on the mountain. Quite a challenging hike up over the tree line and then down into a beautiful pristine meadow where hardly anyone goes. Here the spring waters were flowing freely creating deep furrows of streams and mini-waterfalls through the meadow. We found a powerful spot for lunch and gave our crystals a welcome bath in the clear, fresh, spring water. This is heaven on earth and a difficult place to leave.

The final opportunity to bathe in the hot spring waters and plunge in the creek is followed by a drive to Castle Lake where we take a steep trail up to Heart Lake. A small lake nestled in the high alpine with a magnificent view of Mt. Shasta. This heart-shaped lake provides the opportunity for us to swim in the waters while the crystal bowl is played- a marvellous experience! Returning to Castle Lake and another opportunity to swim on a hot day reveals an incredibly uplifting feeling. This lake has some magical quality about the water which is unique and awesome. We have been joined by a special guest on this day. Judy Guadalupe, a good friend from Sacramento who I had never met, arrived to share the day with us and do a powerful impromptu session with us in the evening. A wonderful conclusion to our time at Stewart Mineral Springs.

Our next stop is at Pluto Caves as we begin our journey home. Three separate huge caves, hollowed out Lava tubes, some of which travel for miles underground. The first was a communal cave used by the Indigenous people of the area for living purposes, the second where Mother's went to give birth to their babies. The third massive cave disappeared into the Underworld and we made our way through this cave into the darkness. When Zia and I had visited here almost a year ago, the cave was pitch black inside, but now sunlight bounced off the walls to keep the cave dimly lit. Here we set ourselves up for another powerful ceremony with cascading tones into the darkness where silhouetted shadows started appearing on the walls in front of us and behind us. It was as if the Guardian Spirits of the Cave were gathering around us. This was one of my most powerful moments on the entire trip. We returned, re-birthed out of the cave to do further ceremony in the birthing cave, before emerging into the sunlight and a most magnificent final view of Mt. Shasta before moving off.

Our final stop was at Crater Lake where the intense blueness and clarity of the Lake almost knock you off your feet. We drove around the Crater Rim stopping at different locations soaking in the raw beauty of the place, not only the Lake and Landscape, but beautiful rainbow clouds and Sun sparkles.

We close space in Lacey, Washington, as we say goodbye to Mabel and CK and make our way back to the Coho ferry and return to Victoria. We never know the full impact of these sacred journeys on ourselves, the sacred sites, Mother Earth and the Cosmos, but we do know that important connections have been sincerely made and that we have made our personal and collective contribution to the return of Peace to our beautiful Planet. A wonderful journey made possible by the outstanding contributions of everyone who ventured with us!
 

____________________